Customer Reviews

Union

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So, I've only had the CD for 1/2 day (it's actually released tomorrow in the UK), but in the interest of fairness this album is as solid a candidate for a 5* release as you'll hear all year. Great songs, great vocals and great guitar work (with a distinctive 70's feel) all contribute to what must be one of the best albums of the year. No song by song analysis this review, others will offer that I'm sure, but if you're looking for something which works from the get go, and which has sustainability, this is it.

The 2nd album from this London band is big, expansive, building post-rock/pop with epic

explosions of melodic brilliance. Guitars soar skyward, eventually roaring with pent-up emotions;

while vocals glide with precarious precision through a radiant combination of power & fragility.

Recalls Radiohead, Airborne Toxic Event, Twilight Sad, Verve, Six By Seven, The Domino Theory,

Chameleons.

Soaring rock album that is one of the best I've heard...period. Actually, one of my favorite bands right now. With a much more masculine sounding voice like Brian from Placebo, and much greater band all together, but I can hear some comparisons. Maybe even, dare I say some comparisons to Sugor Ros. If you blended, perhaps the Bends from Radiohead and anything from the Verve you'd get The Boxer Rebellion. And, to me, that is some amazing company.

Heard cuts of this album on BBC radio today, and was completely blown away. I only wish you could purchase the album in the states.

I stumbled upon The Boxer Rebellion after noting many friends who liked the same music as I (Indie, Alternative) and then heard a song on TV to be a song by them.

A friend then asked if I was going to their show this coming May 2011 in San Francisco, so, I impulsively bought three of their albums.

On my iPod, I did a random play of Boxer Rebellion songs when I noticed that every song from the Union album really gripped my attention.

They kind of remind me of Ocean Blue with the day dreaminess of The Verve...

So far two songs in particular, "Soviets" and "Spitting Fire" were so beautiful to listen to that I literally had an out of body dream-like experience listening to them (especially Soviets).

Whatever that's worth..all I can say, this is the best album I've heard in very long time.

I bought this album after buying their second album ("The Cold Still") and hearing a couple of the songs off of this first album, especially since they were offered as bonus tracks in the form of live or acoustic versions.

The first 3 tracks are especially good, each of which has their own driving sound. The songs are all catchy yet have a quality that also lends them to being effective music to have on in the background while doing other things. In my review of their second album, I compared them to Beach House and in an odd way to Fleet Foxes. I don't think that their sound changed much between albums, but I'd say that this first album is not quite as consistent as their follow-up effort.

The standout tracks include opener "Flashing Red Lights..." with its nice falsetto chorus of "tell me why you're leaving us"), second track "Move On" with its rockin' outro, and finale "Broken Glass". "Misplaced", is a longwinded pace-changer in the middle of the album that really may be misplaced. It's not awful, but at nearly 6 minutes in length, its a tough rest stop in the middle of an otherwise well-paced album. The album doesn't quite recover from the stronger first half, although it finishes with a high note on the wonderful "Broken Glass". Overall, it's a decent album that I am glad that I bought although I'd probably still steer new fans towards "The Cold Still" first.

Since seeing them live made such a favorable impression, it seemingly then took forever before their debut full-length was finally released in the U.S., but well worth the wait.

7 & 10. Three stars on the strength of those two songs. Thank you [...]